Maui Firearm Permits Down 26%, Registrations Drop 27%

The Department of the Attorney General released its annual report today detailing statewide and county firearm registration statistics for calendar year 2017.

In Maui County, there were 1,662 personal firearm permit applications processed in 2017, marking a 26% decrease from the tally in 2016 when 2,251 permits were processed. Of the applications processed in Maui County in 2017, 96.27% (1,600) were approved and resulted in issued permits; 2.35% (39) were approved but subsequently voided after the applicants failed to return for their permits within the specified time period; and 1.38% (23) were denied due to one or more disqualifying factors.

The 1,662 permits issued in Maui County in 2017 cover a total of 4,121 firearms registered throughout the year, resulting in a -27.19% decrease from the tally of firearms registered the previous year when 5,660 firearms were registered. Roughly 45.81% (1,888) of the firearms registered in Maui County during 2017 were imported from out-of-state, with the remainder accounted for by transfers of firearms that were previously registered.

When looking at a seven year span, between 2000 and 2017 in Maui County, the number of permits processed annually increased 109.1%, the number of firearms annually registered rose 181.1%, and the tally of firearms annually imported jumped 194.5%.

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Statewide numbers:

A total of 16,443 personal firearm permit applications were processed statewide during 2017, marking a 23.2% decrease from the tally in 2016. Of the applications processed in 2017, 96.0% (15,793) were approved and resulted in issued permits; 2.2% (367) were approved but subsequently voided after the applicants failed to return for their permits within the specified time period; and 1.7% (283) were denied due to one or more disqualifying factors.

The 16,443 permits issued statewide in 2017 cover a total of 40,635 firearms registered throughout the year, resulting in a 23.9% decrease from the tally of firearms registered during 2016. Roughly half (21,142, or 52.0%) of the firearms registered during 2017 were imported from out-of-state, with the remainder accounted for by transfers of firearms that were previously registered in Hawaiʻi.

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Firearm registration activity increased dramatically over the course of the 18 years for which these data have been systematically compiled and reported. Statewide from 2000 through 2017, the annual number of statewide permit applications processed climbed 153.4%, the annual number of firearms registered soared 198.4%, and the annual number of firearms imported surged 192.5%. Similar trends were reported by all four counties.

It is a misdemeanor in the State of Hawaiʻi to provide falsified information on firearm permit applications, unless the falsified information pertains to criminal or mental health histories, in which case it is a felony offense. In 2017, falsified criminal or mental health information, or both, were provided in 41.7% (118) of the 283 denial cases; falsified information pertaining to anything other than criminal or mental health histories was provided in 1.4% (4) of the cases; and no falsified information was provided in 56.9% (161) of the cases.

The top three types of applicants whose permit applications were denied in 2017 included, in order: persons with mental health diagnoses or treatment histories (including for drug or alcohol abuse); persons with convictions or pending cases for certain types of criminal offenses; and persons who within one year of their applications were certified medical marijuana patients.

The report, entitled Firearm Registrations in Hawaiʻi, 2017, provides a range of additional statistics and analyses focused on firearm permits, registrations, and denials in the State of Hawaiʻi and its four counties. The full report can be downloaded from the Department of the Attorney General’s Research and Statistics web site at http://ag.hawaii.gov/cpja/rs.